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The Strange Thing About the Johnsons
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Wikipedia article
'The Strange Thing About the Johnsons' is a 2011 American horror short film written and directed by Ari Aster. The film stars Billy Mayo, Brandon Greenhouse, and Angela Bullock as members of a suburban family in which a son extensively abuses his father sexually and emotionally.
The short was Aster's thesis film while studying at the American Film Institute's graduate school in California, and later screened at film festivals in 2011, premiering at the Slamdance Film Festival in Utah on January 22, before it leaked online in November and went viral. The story was first conceived while discussing taboos with his friends, including Greenhouse, before Aster's first year at AFI. He worked on the production with fellow students from the school.
Plot
In 1995, Sidney Johnson, an acclaimed poet, accidentally interrupts his twelve-year-old son, Isaiah, masturbating. Sidney apologizes and reassures his son that the act is natural. Sidney does not realize that Isaiah had been masturbating to a photograph of him, when he was younger.
Fourteen years later in 2009, during Isaiah's wedding reception, Isaiah's mother Joan discovers Isaiah about to perform fellatio on a distressed Sidney. While Joan is in the shower, Sidney leaves a typed memoir under her pillow, 'Cocoon Man: Confessions by Sidney Johnson', which chronicles the years of sexual abuse he has endured at the hands of their son. Isaiah discovers the memoir before Joan can see it. He confronts Sidney, tells him he will burn the memoir and warns him not to print more copies.
While Sidney is taking a bath, Isaiah breaks down the locked door and rapes him, telling him to "put that in your book" afterwards. Joan hears the struggle, but raises the volume of the television. The next day, Sidney removes a secret copy of 'Cocoon Man' from underneath the floorboards and attempts to leave the house with it, leading to another confrontation with Isaiah which culminates in Sidney running into the street where he is struck and killed by a van.
After Sidney's funeral, Joan recalls that on Isaiah's prom night in 2000, Sidney locked himself in the bathroom and cried for hours, and asks him why. Their argument escalates into a physical fight. After Isaiah throws Joan across the room, Joan stabs him with a knife. Enraged, Isaiah attempts to force his mother into a lit fireplace, only for Joan, through tears, to stab Isaiah to death with a fire iron. She throws 'Cocoon Man' into the fire, continuing to sob.
Cast
* Billy Mayo as Sidney
* Brandon Greenhouse as Isaiah
** Carlon Jeffery as Young Isaiah
* Angela Bullock as Joan
* Stanley Bennett Clay as Howard
* Connie Jackson as Grace
* Danile Watts as Marianne
Production
The team began work on the project during Aster's time at the American Film Institute's graduate school, AFI Conservatory, for his thesis film. The idea behind the short had arisen from a discussion with some friends about taboo topics, during the summer preceding his first year at AFI. Brandon Greenhouse, who plays Isaiah, had previously worked on projects with Aster and was there since conception.
The short was shot on 35mm film. He described the script as being "a bit of an uphill battle to make it there politically", stating:
Reception
After the short film was released online, it went viral, garnering a polarized reaction due to its controversial themes. Ivan Kander of the website Short of the Week wrote that the comments on YouTube had "everything from effusive acclaim to disgusted vitriol. In terms of the internet, that means it's a hit."
The film also garnered controversy for its portrayal of an African American family by a Jewish filmmaker. Director Ari Aster stated that "the color of the family isn't important. We certainly assumed that casting black actors in a film that tackles such transgressive themes would create something of a stir, and it would be a lie to say that we weren't hesitant, especially as many people were advising us against the decision."
As an African American incest and child sexual abuse survivor, Malcolm Harris of 'The Huffington Post' wrote that Billy Mayo's performance was "brilliant" and that "we should be applauding the fact that someone has finally shown true courage in proposing the question, 'What If? What if these strange events were happening behind the closed doors of the Smiths, the Rosenbergs, the Mortimers, the Herreras? What if these strange things were happening to me?'"
References
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